PROFESSOR Tom Devine looks at the Scots who emigrated overseas since the 13th century and the 50 million people around the world who can claim Scottish ancestry.

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Eleven Glasgow girls took their last look at England when they sailed on the Orion for Australia on June 3, 1947

FEW nations have seen so many sons and daughters leave, yet the emotional attachment of the Scottish diaspora across the globe has never been more enduring.

The Scottish exodus helped shape far flung nations and also characterised Scots as pragmatic, yet adventurous, unafraid to cross the globe - or to roll up their sleeves and get the job done.

The term ‘diaspora’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘scattering’ but for most people it also encapsulates those who maintain, even generations later, an emotional or sentimental connection to their homeland.

For Scotland that equates to more than 50 million people around the world who can claim Scottish ancestry.

Between 1825 and 1938 an extraordinary 2.3 million people left Scotland for overseas destinations.

If you include the estimated 600,000 people who moved across the border to England between 1841 and 1911, it’s little wonder that Scotland is regarded as the main European country of emigration over this period.

But the Scots were always a global people whose roots were established as far back as medieval period, and well before the infamous Highland clearances of the late 18th century.

Some of the 1,050 emigrants stuck on the Donaldson Liner Captain Cook in Glasgow due to a shipyard strike on March 20. 1957

On Wikipedia, people of Scottish descent are detailed under almost every letter of the alphabet, from America to Zambia and there are few nations that have not had some kind of Scottish connection.

But the Scottish global diaspora is not imperial, says historian Professor Tom Devine, the Director of the Scottish Centre of Diaspora Studies in Edinburgh.

“There were enclaves of Scottish activity in Latin America, South East Asia and Japan, outside the empire, as well as the African territories outside the Empire,” he says.

In the early period 13th century Scotland was a relatively poor country and often there was little choice, so for many the reason to leave was hardship and the pressure to find work.

But later, in the 18th and 19th centuries, opportunity was the driving force, encouraging scholars and clerics to seek educational development and for merchants who wanted to make their way in the world, the opportunities elsewhere were greater.

This period is also described as the ‘Scottish paradox’ by Professor Devine. “Scotland was the second richest nation on earth in the second half of the 19th century, but had emigration levels the same as the Irish, Spanish and Italians.

“For every two Scottish children who survived their first year of infancy, one would leave their homeland forever.”

Lorry driver Peter Harding his wife Sylvia and his 13 children boarding a liner at Southampton at the start of their journey to Australia on October 20, 1968

It is a puzzle, continues Prof Devine, but may in part be due to the fact that emigration had been a fact of life for Scots for centuries.

These emigrants helped develop the brand of the Scot as a pioneering settler and empire builder.

“It’s true, they did punch above their weight,” he says, and one of the main reasons was education.

“Many would have experienced the rigorous Scottish grammar school system. The hours and work were truly draconian and more than twice the average of French schools,” says Prof Devine.

“Such was the discipline that they were able to cope with enormous volumes of dedicated work later in life and be adept at activities like administration, accounting, and commercial management.

“There’s a saying the English Ruled the Empire but the Scots actually ran it – its hyperbole but has a core of truth,” adds Prof Devine.

Scotland was industrialised early, so many of the skills of Scots emigrants would also have been considered state of the art.

While the countries they were moving to had land, raw materials and cheap labour in abundance, what they lacked were skilled and educated workers - and that’s what the Scots had.

Crucially, the reputation of Scots emigrants as ‘empire builders’ remained positive and in the main they received a good press and the Scot abroad in the 19th century is often remembered as the engineer, professor, missionary or teacher.

“In other words the professions that made a positive influence on development and that helped to build these nations,” says Prof Devine.

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SCOTS who left a legacy around the world:

James Taylor - Born 1835 Kincardineshire, and introduced tea plantations to Sri Lanka

David Livingtone - Born 1813 Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. He was known as “Africa’s greatest missionary” and was also a scientific investigator and explorer.

Peter Fraser - Born 1884 in Tain, he was co-founder of New Zealand Labour Party and the country’s 24th and longest serving Prime Minister.

Andrew Carnegie - Born 1835 in Dunfermline, he was an industrialist and high profile philanthropist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century.

Lachlan Macquarie - Known as the father of Australia, he is considered by historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement and played a major role in the shaping of Australian society.